Weeks 4 - 8   -    January 26 - February 20, 2009

Are you a diligent person? I am by definition but when it comes to actual application I am lacking. Merriam-Webster defines diligence as 1) a perservering application 2) the attention and care expected or required of a person.

I've let four weeks elapse without any entries on our homeschool progress. This has happened in part because I'm a procrastinator and because I have started working outside the home. So now I'll recap the last four weeks for posterity sake.

Camden

has read 2 Little Bear books and completed his who, when, where, why, what, and how worksheet on the book. In math he is learning to write number words (one, two, thirty, one hundred).  In science we have begun a study of the human body. I'm also beginning to review site works with him.

January 19 - 23, 2009

What a fun week we had.

Camden

Finished reading Little Bears Visit and completed his who, when, where, why, what, and how worksheet on the book. In math he is learning to write number words (one, two, thirty, one hundred).

Nathaniel

Finished reading My Fathers Dragon and completed his who, when, where, why, what, and how worksheet on the book. In math he is concentrating on multiplication facts.

Griffen

Is still reading The Phantom Tollbooth and narrating his daily readings. It is an exciting book that introduces many reading and writing concepts in story form. In math he is learning fractions.

All

Literature - Lessons from the Farm as a read aloud

Science - Seed Babies reading and discussion. AND we began a discussion on aerodynamics, speed, friction, and velocity while building Pinewood Derby cars.

Wood blocks with pattern/cut lines drawn on them.

Pattern for a sport car and using a coping saw.

Using a coping saw.

Sanding.

More to come next week. I'll post pictures chronically the process through race day which I think is February 24, 2009 aat 7:00 p.m.

January 12 -16, 2009

Oh what a horrid week we had. Our plumbing slowly stopped flowing out of the house. Not a big deal right? Just add some drain cleaner and you're good to go. Not! Ok, we'll snake the drain to find the obstruction. This was only a temporary fix. So let's use a longer snake, 50' instead of 10'. Ah ha! The drains empty. Yea!! Oh but with the next flush or bath they backed up again. Now we remove vent covers to find possible clog(s). Success! The snake has hit something where the sewer line exits the house but we are not able to break through with the snake or an auger.

By now, Thursday, we are starting to smell sewer gas in the house and we must now bring in the professionals but they cannot come until Monday. So we pack the necessities and our pets (3 dogs & 1 hamster), and move in with my mom across town.

The plumbers arrive and we are told that all that we have done should have cleared the line IF the problem was in the house. They remove the vent cover where we found a blockage and with the use of a power auger they are able to clear it but something beyond the vent has caused it to clog. Utilizing a camera and a snake they are able to see that we have roots in our line. With the power auger they are able to remove up to 10' of roots. Now we have movement and all the lines in the house are flowing smoothly but as soon as it starts to warm up outside we have to replace our sewer lines.

With all of this fun and excitement we veered from our curriculum this week. The boys continued with their math and reading assignments only. They assisted and/or observed all of the work we did on the plumbing while we explained the ins and outs of plumbing. But this week they learned a trade or skill if you will. How many 7, 9, & 10 year olds do you know that can tell you how to snake a drain, how to use an auger, how to install plumbing, and tell you how and why it works? So I don't feel too bad about only covering reading and math.

Our first week back to home school for 2009 was January 5th - 9th. It was a good but light week.

MATH: daily

     CPC is in Ray's New Primary Arithmetic and workbook Series 1 Book 1. He is reviewing numerals and how to spell number words.

     NBC is in Ray's New Intellectual Arithmetic and workbook Series 3 Book 2. He is currently working on multiplication. He is exceeding here and I am very proud of him.

     GQC is in Ray's New Intellectual Arithmetic and workbook Series 4 Book 1. He thinks he is doing kindergarten work because he is doing a review of addition and subtraction. LOL What he doesn't know is that he about to start fractions. wheeeee I think they are fun (I know, big geek) but he has not done them before.

SPELLING: daily

     ALL boys worked on difficult words from their assigned reading books.

READING:  daily

     CPC took the week off from the McGuffey reader and read a Little Bear chapter book. He is getting so much better. On his second and third reading of the book he was markedly more fluent.

     NBC also took the week off from the McGuffey reader but continued reading his chapter book, My Fathers Dragon. I'm interested to see what he rights about the book when he is finished because he doesn't discuss it.

     GQC also took the week off from the McGuffey reader and continued reading his chapter book, The Phantom Tollbooth. It is obvious that he enjoys reading this story. Each day before he reads he will tell me what happened in the previous days chapter.

LITERATURE: daily

     ALL of the family gathers for a read aloud and we discuss different aspects of the chosen story. This week we read The Old Man and the Sea. They have all taken a great interest in the story. We tied it in with GEOGRAPHY by finding Cuba on our shower curtain world map :) We also discussed where it is located in proximity to where we live. What body of water it lies in and nearby islands. I must admit though that our bathroom is a bit tight for a geography classroom :) Where else but in home school? 

WRITING: daily

     No creative writing took place. Instead they are all practicing their handwriting, Zaner Bloser style.

SCIENCE: once a week but normally twice

    As a read aloud we read the chapter on Melons and Their Cousins. We discussed the parts of a seed - hull/shell, protective lining, and the cotyldon where the new baby plant lies. After our reading and during our discussion we dissected seeds to find the cotyldon.

We did not do any formal Bible or History.

I am begging you to read the following post, research the links, and act now!

http://learningathisfeet.blogspot.com/2009/01/urgent-please-read-and-act.html

Have you heard of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act? This act was signed into law last August and will be in effect on February 10, 2009.

"This law requires that ANY item that comes in contact with a child who is 12 years old and under, to be tested at a government approved testing facility and have a 'certification' placed on the item. Sounds simple enough, but the fallout is much more intense."

http://learningathisfeet.blogspot.com/2009/01/urgent-please-read-and-act.html

Home schooling is going well. CP (7) tickles me though. He thinks that because he is not forced to sit in a seat all day to do multiple worksheets that he is not having school. I think that everything they/we do is a learning experience. Example: They can all add, subtract, multiply, divide, and do fractions not only because of our text but from helping to cook and grocery shop. History is a never ending subject. They all play a couple of different historical computer and board games so they are not only having fun but they are learning too. They will encounter a new city, country, or battle and then we research it. School is not all games though; we do use a curriculum:

BIBLE - Foundations http://www.homeschoolingbible.com/

MATH - Rays Arithmetic’s and workbooks, as well as verbal exercises.  http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=rays

SPELLING - McGuffey Progressive Speller and Dolch sight words. http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=mcguffey

READING - McGuffey Readers plus they all have to read a chapter a day in a challenging chapter book and answer questions about the characters, the main idea, etc... http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=mcguffey

LITERATURE - Combines with reading of the chapter books. These are not puff chapter books either. They've read Pearl S. Buck, Hemingway, Bunyan and others. Just last night CP (7) read from ‘The Old Man and the Sea’

In addition to their assigned chapter book and I read a chapter or so every day from classic books like C. S. Lewis, Shakespeare (Lamb - adapted for children), John Bunyan, R. L. Stevenson, Kipling, etc...

WRITING - Zaner-Bloser handwriting workbooks and self-led creative writing which will be compiled and published. http://www.zaner-bloser.com/educator/products/handwriting/index.aspx?id=106

GRAMMAR - We're reading ‘Grammar Land’ which is a fabulous introduction to grammar in storybook format. They also have to answer questions about what we are reading and have read to test their knowledge. http://books.google.com/books?id=iXgSAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=grammar+land&ei=sthkSZ6BBJeOMqSJneMI

SCIENCE - We're reading living learning books which are entertaining as well as educational. Currently we're reading ‘Seed Babies’, next we'll read Christian Liberty Press ‘Nature Reader 5’ which is on the Human Body. We also do activities related to what we read. http://books.google.com/books?id=gjgZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=seed+babies&ei=1dhkSbGJF5T4NcCY8dQO 

http://ebiz.netopia.com/clpress/pages/store/skudetail.nhtml?profile=reading&uid=10225&returnURL=http%3A//ebiz.netopia.com/clpress/reading

HISTORY - More living learning books. We have just started reading ‘The Story of The Chosen People’ It is the first in a series of books that combines biblical history with textbook history. Previously we studied the history of Halloween (good and bad, and what it means for us as Christian family); a thanksgiving theme covering its origins, pilgrims, mayflower, colonization, Indians, they built a pilgrim house...; Christmas using Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ http://books.google.com/books?id=YDQXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne+Adeline+Guerber%22&lr=&as_brr=1&ei=9tlkSb3kEZW6NtWluIEJ

ART – In addition to various planned and spontaneous crafts we are studying art in a sequential historical order while using ‘A Child’s History of Art’

They all learn differently which makes it interesting and one of the reasons I home school. GQ (10) is easy. Tell him what his assignments are and leave him to it. If he has a question or needs help he asks for it, otherwise he prefers to be left alone. NBC (9) has a form of dyslexia which inhibits him being able to put words and math problems on paper. He can spell and do higher math verbally all day long but struggles with putting it on paper. This requires the use of various manipulatives to help overcome the struggle. He is getting better thanks to the incorporation of the suggested tools at http://www.dyslexia.com/  CP (7) is somewhere between GQ (10) and NBC (9). He has a short attention span so he works for 15 minutes and takes a break, works 15 minutes and takes a break until all is done.

My, how time flies. Way back in July ’08 I posted our intended schedule for the ’08 – ’09 school year at Lukeion Academy but have not posted on our progress. So now I am going to try to do so.

Our year began slowly the last week of August by only focusing on the core subjects (math, reading, and writing). This was done because my eldest son, who was attending public school, was stressing a sincere interest in being homeschooled. I am happy to say that he did in fact choose to be homeschooled. His reasons paralleled those of mine such as him not being accepted to the magnet school for music, having to be seated beside his brothers’ bully, and for having to “consistently do irrelevant time consuming homework.” His words not mine. I was floored when my 9 year old came to me with that.

In WV a two week notice must be given before withdrawing a child from school. This delayed our adding history and science until the October 6^th. Plus it was my intent to use the same core with all three boys but provide age appropriate activities and exercises.

October came and while we continued our focus on math, reading, and writing, I added a month long unit study on the history of Halloween, from Connect the Thoughts, instead of starting my intended history and science. I also added a living science reader, Seed Babies by Morley, in place of our intended curriculum.

In November we continued our math, reading, and writing. This month we still did not begin the originally intended history or science. We spent this month focusing on the origins of Thanksgiving. A couple of unit studies were combined and many thanksgiving, pilgrim, pioneer, and colonial books were read to round out the month.

In December we again continued our math, reading, and writing while using a unit study focusing on A Christmas Carol.

Now it is January 2009. The “school year” is nearly half over and we have not begun our intended science or history. This troubles me as far as the evaluation of their portfolios for the county school board. On the other hand I am not bothered because we spend time reading living books that are science and history related. That aside, we are continuing our math, reading, and writing but I am hesitant to begin our history and science because there are so many living books that I would rather they hear and read.

The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine is having an amazing sale on subscriptions during their annual Black Friday Sale November 26 – 30. For those 5 days only, they are drastically reducing their one-year subscription price to $7.95! That's the price you would usually pay for just one issue at a bookstore!

They spent two months at sea to reach a strange new world, and

barely survived once they got there.

Learn how the Pilgrims reached America and

lived to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.

click here

Voyage on the Mayflower - Daily Life - The Thanksgiving Feast

Research Plymouth Colony

Mayflower Interviews

Plimoth Plantation Thanksgiving Chat

Pilgrim Interviews

Meet a Wampanoag

Receive Letters from History

click here

Have you ever wanted to talk with someone from the Plymouth Colonies or a Native American about the Mayflower, Thanksgiving, or Colonial Life?

Or maybe you have wanted to explore Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II with your family.

Well, here is an opportunity to so from the comfort of your home.  click here

Join one of three live chats on Thursday, November 13. At 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. ET, we will chat live with a present-day Native American and a Pilgrim interpreter representing a young Pilgrim boy. Submit your in-advance questions and then come back the day of the chat to ask more questions in real time. click here

Following are the forms that I use to plan and schedule our school subjects and days of study. I've also included a 12 week sample of a 3rd grade course of study. If you find them useful please feel free to download and use as you please.

Attendance Record

Attendance Record with WV State Seal as a watermark

Grade 3 Course of Study contains the 12 week sample

Blank Course of Study 

Yearly Plan This is what we plan to study for the 2008-2009 school year. When planning I lay this all out on a spreadsheet (Excel) using one tab per subject.

       I have finally completed outlining the curriculum for next year for my 8 and 6 year olds. If they were returning to public school they'd be in 3^rd and 1^st grades respectively. I have selected what I believe to be an eclectic combination of texts and resources to fit their learning styles and my 8’s dysgraphia. As you know it is sometimes a difficult task selecting the appropriate curriculum especially if homeschooling more than one.

      Sometimes I think it may be a bit daunting so I must continue reminding myself that my DS’s have always worked above grade level. They did begin learning to read and write at 2 1/2. Also, if need be, I do have the power to change or alter our curriculum.

      Below is our course of study for 2008/2009.

Language Arts (daily)

• Reading
  • McGuffey’s Readers
• Grammar/Composition
  • Harvey’s Elementary Grammar and Composition
• Spelling
  • McGuffey’s Progressive Speller

Math (daily)

• Ray’s New Primary Arithmetic
• Ray’s New Intellectual Arithmetic

Bible (daily)

• God’s Story

History (3 days)

• The Mystery of History: Vol. 1

Science (2 days)

• Living Learning Books: Life Science
• Usborne Science Encyclopedia
• Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Natural World

Latin (daily)

• Latin’s Not So Tough! Vol. 1 and 2

Fine Arts (2 days)

• Music, Drama, Art
  • The Art’s
  • A Child’s History of Art

Literature (daily)

• The Lion the Witch the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Edith Nesbit
• Pilgrim’s Progress
• Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
• The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis
• Jataka Tales by Ellen C Babbit
• King Lear by Edith Nesbit
• Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
• Stories of Don Quixote by James Baldwin
• Romeo and Juliet by Edith Nesbit
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis
• Stories of Robin Hood by HE Marshall
• All’s Well That Ends Well by Edith Nesbit
• The Silver Chair by CS Lewis
• Gulliver’s Travels by John Lang
• The Last Battle by CS Lewis

The school year is drawing to a close and I am excited! My excitement stems from finally being able to remove my sons, well at least one, from the public school system. While public school may serve the needs of some it definitely does not serve my eight year old son (NB).

NB is a very bright and energetic young man. He excel’s in math, science, and art but is having difficulty with reading, writing, and spelling. He can recite his spelling and vocabulary words and spell them perfectly aloud but when he is required to put pencil to paper he fails. His generally sweet and loving disposition transforms into frustration and anger.

I have counseled with his teacher so often that I can now recite what she will say to me about my "uncooperative lazy boy." I have met with his school counselor who has recommended a child psychologist. In despair I made the initial appointment and we went and met Dr. Doug. NB likes him and enjoys talking with him about school and life. After a couple of appointments Dr. Doug suggests testing NB's competency level to which I agree.

Low and behold he is just a few points short of a perfect score! How can this be when he struggles with reading, writing, and spelling? Dr. Doug and NB agree that to resolve this problem anger management should be addressed and practiced. Guess what? It doesn't work.

So we are back to square one and the school year is half over. I try many methods while helping him at home with his school work but to no avail. So I rearrange our lives and gather resources, friends, and family in an effort to allow me time to homeschool NB and his brothers. However, it is too late in the school year to pull them from public school because of deadlines for testing requirements. In the mean time NB is continually chastised and berated by his teacher. He has very low self esteem and cries over having to endure another day at school. Still I'm left wondering why he is having this difficulty.

Time passes and I find myself reading a parent magazine sent home from the public school. The article that has caught my interest is on dyslexia. You know, reversing similar letters or numbers when reading and writing. Wrong! Dyslexia entails so much more and my son has all but two of the 16 traits listed in the article. Wow! I immediately go to the referred website and read every word under every tab. Within this site is an online evaluation for initial determination of dyslexia so I filled it out. This evaluation has 37 different characteristics listed for dyslexia but states that most dyslexics will exhibit about 10. NB exhibits 29 of the 37 characteristics on this initial evaluation. WOW!!

Could this be it? Could this be why my son is having such difficulty? So far all that I have read says "yes" In light of this I've arranged for him to be professionally tested because when I suggested it to his teacher when she called to complain about him this morning she outright refused the idea because he is nothing like her son or husband who are dyslexic. Puh-leeze!!! Just because she has family members with dyslexia that doesn't make her an expert in the area. I mean who does she think she is giving a flip diagnosis? Perhaps I can start diagnosing cardiac problems since myself and other family members have them. Seems the same to me.

I know you are thinking that I should call the principal or the board but believe me it would do no good at all. This I know because last year while in the afterschool program at school ran by the county my sons' life was threatened by another child who revealed a weapon.  I reported it to the police, the afterschool director, the principal, and the board only to be told that this older bigger boy didn't really mean it because he is a good kid just like y NB. Hello!!!

Promptly I made extraordinary alternative arrangements so my sons would not have to go to afterschool but was not able to arrange it so they could stay home and be schooled. It has taken a year of careful planning and a career change but it is now possible for me to homeschool my boys. So just let me say one more time that I am excited that this school year ends in three weeks. Yippie!!!

Websites pertaining to dyslexia.

http://www.dyslexiawv.com/

http://www.dyslexia.com/ddai.htm

http://www.resourceroom.net/gtld/index.asp

http://www.diannecraft.org/

Seven years ago I started homeschooling my three sons. A failed marriage put it on hold for four years but we are returning. The boys and I are excited to be able to homeschool once again.

We are using a combination of eclectic and classical style curriculums to fill our needs.

This is going to be a wild adventure...

cyn